Animal Defenders to Descend on SeaQuest Las Vegas Over Dangerous Encounters
For Immediate Release:
July 19, 2024
Contact:
David Perle 202-483-7382
On Saturday, a group of PETA supporters brandishing signs that read, “Don’t Lie to Your Children: This Place Hurts Animals,” will converge outside SeaQuest Las Vegas to call out the notorious shopping mall petting zoo for exploiting animals and forcing them into dangerous hands-on encounters with the public. The action follows the recent closures of SeaQuest locations in Colorado and Connecticut after PETA filed numerous complaints with various federal and state authorities detailing egregious animal welfare issues and numerous injuries to customers.
“SeaQuest Las Vegas jeopardizes animals’ lives and the public’s safety and must close down,” says PETA Vice President Tracy Reiman. “It’s only a matter of time before the next horrific injury—or worse—occurs at SeaQuest, and PETA urges everyone to stay away from this vile operation.”
Where: Outside SeaQuest, 3528 S. Maryland Pkwy. (at the intersection of S. Maryland Parkway and E. Twain Avenue), Las Vegas
When: Saturday, July 20, 11 a.m.
Why: SeaQuest Las Vegas has a history of injuries, including to children. Just last year, PETA alerted the U.S. Department of Agriculture to a Facebook video showing a wallaby lunging at a child’s face during a feeding encounter in an incident that allegedly went unreported by SeaQuest staff. In addition, a mother reported on Yelp that her son’s face and eye were scratched by a coatimundi and that an ambulance was called to take him to the hospital, a kinkajou bit a staffer, and a small-clawed otter bit an employee during a presentation.
PETA—whose motto reads, in part, that “animals are not ours to use for entertainment”—points out that Every Animal Is Someone and offers free Empathy Kits for people who need a lesson in kindness.
For more information, please visit PETA.org or follow the group on X, Facebook, or Instagram.
